Chapter 6:
It had been seven moons since Adder had informed Spirit that she would be a Healer when she was old enough, and the day had finally come when she was seven moons old. Bracken had become a Trainee at seven moons old, and Spirit was glad that he was moving on up in the world with her. Sky, Blue, and Lightning were also almost full members of the group, and that was exciting. Spirit was happy for her friends, especially Sky.
But there were other things going on that...weren't as exciting or happy as Spirit had hoped they would be. First of all, she had heard that Violet's Group of cats had mysteriously...disappeared. Adder had been going to ask for herbs from them one day, and had seen that their entire camp was burnt to a crisp, and there was no trace of any cats. Second of all, Spirit had noticed that her parents were arguing with each other a lot more. Acorn seemed to get mad at Hail for the smallest things, and Hail just seemed...extremely stressed and unhappy.
Spirit wished that she could do something for her parents, but it wasn't easy when she was busy helping Adder most of the time, and when her mother kept pushing her away…
But nevermind that, Spirit was happy. She had good friends, loving parents (she hoped), and a secure future. She had everything that she needed, and there was nothing that was stopping her from being the best cat in the group.
"Spirit!" She heard a voice call out, taking her away from thoughts and back into the real world.
"Yeah?" Spirit asked, turning around and seeing Sky padding towards her. "Do you need something? Is someone hurt?"
"No," Sky chuckled, shaking her head. "I was actually wondering if you would like to join Bracken and I for a game of hide and seek."
Spirit froze, blush creeping onto her face. Sky wanted to play with her? But wasn't she busy with training?
"Of course, if you don't want to, I can always find someone else…" Sky said with a long, dramatic sigh and looked at Spirit pointedly.
Spirit shook out her pelt and smiled. "I would love to play with you!" She said happily. "I'll have to ask Adder first, but I'm sure he won't mind."
"Alright," Sky nodded. "You go ahead and do that."
Spirit cast another smile back at her friend- who she hoped to be more than firends with one day, but that was unlikely- and then bounded over to the herb den, looking inside and seeing Adder. "Adder!" She called out, making her teacher jump with surprise.
He turned around and looked at her, raising a brow. "Do you need something?"
Spirit nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I was wondering if I could take a break and go play hide and seek with Sky and my brother?"
The silver she-cat frowned when Adder furrowed his brow, obviously deep in thought. He almost looked like he was...worried about her. He didn't have to be worried about her, though. Spirit would be fine. She would be with her brother and her best friend, after all.
"Fine, you can go." Adder grunted, obviously not happy with his deccision. "But be back by nightfall. I don't want you getting hurt by some wild aimal."
"Yes sir!" Spirit said with a large smile and darted out of the den and back over to Sky, who was talking to Bracken. She felt a prickle of jealous when she saw her brother talking to her crush, but she pushed the feeling down. They were allowed to talk. Sky didn't belong to Spirit, and never would.
"I can go!" Spirit squealed happily, almost running around in a cirle around Sky. But she had enough self-control and dignity to not do that.
Sky smiled warmly. But something about that smile made Spirit feel...off. Even though it seemed like a warm, genuine smile...She couldn't help but feel a shiver go down her spine. Eh, it was probably just the wind. It was a bit chilly out today anyway.
"Let's go, then." Sky said, and started to make her way out of camp and towards the forest near the lake. When the three arrived in the clearing, Sky turned to face both Bracken and Spirit.
"I'll seek first." She announced with a tone that radiated confidence. "So both of you better find some good hiding spots."
"I will!" Bracken nodded, giving Spirit a competitive glance. Spirit sighed, remembering how her brother had gotten so challenging and competitive these last few moons. Maybe it was because he was being taught to hunt and fight and she was stuck being taught how to sort herbs. Well, at least she knew that her position in the group was an important one.
Sky closed her eyes, and started to count… "One...two...three…"
Spirit watched as her brother ran off into the forest and then looked around, wondering where to hide. She saw a big rock not too far away, but realized that it would be really easy for Sky to see her ears, since Spirit was getting quite tall (that didn't make her anymore graceful, though). The silver she-cat looked around and spotted a hollow log nearby that (thankfully) had a few breathing holes in the top. So now it was down to hiding in the forest and risking both herself and her brother being caught at the same time, hiding behind a rock, and hiding in a log.
Then she realized that Sky was almost done counting to fifteen and panicked, running into the log and crouching down. She tried to make herself seem as small as possible and made sure that none of her body part were sticking out of the log. She was definitely going to win this. Take that, Bracken.
Sky finished counting, and Spirit heard her walk away. It sounded like she was going in the direction of the woods, but Spirit wasn't entirely sure. She was sure of one thing, though. She would never let her brother forget the day she had beaten him at hide and seek.
Spirit waited…
And waited…
And waited…
She frowned, thinking that Sky should have found Bracken by now and shouted that Spirit was the winner. What if one of them had gotten lost? What if they had been hurt? What if they were...dead?
Calm down, Spirit. She told herself, sighing quietly. They're fine. It's probably just taking Sky a long time to find Bracken…
Suddenly, she heard the panicked voice of Sky.
"SPIRIT! SPIRIT! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Her friend shouted out. Spirit immediately sensed that something was wrong, and ran out of the log and over to Sky.
"What?! What happened?! Is Bracken okay?" Spirit asked nervously, barely giving herself time to breathe in between sentences.
Sky suddenly started to smile and laugh. "You totally fell for that!" She wheezed, stomping the ground with her paw as she laughed.
Spirit frowned, realizing that there was nothing wrong. Sky had tricked her into losing. "You're full of crap." She muttered, rolling her eyes in embarrassment. She couldn't believe she had fallen for that, and made a fool of herself in front of Sky.
"Okat, okay, I'll calm down now." Sky laughed, and rested her tail across Spirit's shoulders. "Don't beat yourself up over it. I lost my first game of hide and seek to my brothers when I was your age."
"You did?" Spirit asked and raised a brow, finding that hard to believe. Sky was so...perfect, and good at everything. That was one of the things Spirit liked about her.
"Yep," Sky nodded with a casual smirk that seemed to make all of Spirit's worries melt away. "C'mon, let's go find your brother…"
Spirit realized that she had gotten lost in Sky's beautiful blue eyes again and shook out her pelt to clear her head. "Right, yeah, let's go."
The two padded into the forest, keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any sign of Bracken. Spirit started towards the lake, and what she saw made her heart stop…
Yes I just left you on a cliffhanger because I will be in big trouble if I don't get back to homework. But don't worry, I might write the next chapter of this this weekend if I'm not too distracted by video games.
If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review, as it really makes my day :) (Also, constructive criticism is very much appreciated)
ALSO, I'd like to give a big thanks to Succulentsofa (aka Lucy) for that AMAZING review she left! It was so detailed (and I love praise lol) and the constructive criticism was greatly appreciated. Go and check out her stories if you haven't already, they're absolutely amazing, and she's an absolutely amazing person.
Until next time,
-Phoenix